Speech (3) by Lim Kit Siang at the DAP “Abolish
ISA” ceramah at Serdang, Selangor on Sunday, 28th September 2008
at 9pm:

Option 6 for Abdullah – Be a courageous
reformist PM in his last six months in at least 10 areas which will be a
lasting legacy for future Malaysians

Tonight, let us explore another option open
to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, faced with an ultimatum by the Umno
Supreme Council’s “926” emergency meeting that he abandon his mid-June
2010 power-transition plan and to relinquish his posts as Umno President
and Prime Minister in March next year = his decision to be announced
before the start of the Umno division meetings on October 9.

This may be described as his sixth option as
I had last night referred to five options he would have to mull over in
the next 12 days.

If Abdullah is not prepared to take on the Umno warlords by contesting
for the Umno President’s post, be a lameduck Prime Minister for the next
12 months, immediately resign as Prime Minister, advise the Yang di
Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament to hold new general election or
co-operate with Pakatan Rakyat to establish a new federal government,
there is one more option open to him.

This is to accept the Umno Supreme Council
ultimatum that his premiership ends by March next year but ending his
hitherto lacklustre premiership in a blaze of glory in the final six
months by leaving a lasting legacy for future Malaysians by being a
courageous reformist Prime Minister.

Abdullah can begin his six-month programme of
reform in the next Cabinet meeting by choosing to act in at least ten
areas, viz:

1. Police – Establish the Independent Police
Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) by the end of the year,
based on the Bill proposed by the Royal Police Commission, in order
to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class
service to restore to Malaysians their fundamental freedom to be
free from crime and the fear of crime.

2. No more foot-dragging with judicial
reforms by ensuring that a Judicial Appointments Commission is
established by the end of the year and that the country is not
plunged into another era of judicial darkness and scandal with the
appointment of the first Umno Chief Justice in the 51-year history
of Malaysia.

3. A total revamp of the Anti-Corruption
Agency, which has proved to be an utter failure with Malaysia’s
Transparency International Corruption Perception Index plunging from
No. 37 in 2003 to No. 47 in 2008, when we should have improved to at
least No. 30 according to the National Integrity Plan – with the
formation of a completely independent anti-corruption commission by
the end of the year.

4. Far-reaching parliamentary reforms
including the introduction of a full-fledged Parliamentary Select
Committee system whereby every Ministry is shadowed by a
Parliamentary Select Committee.